This is a place to share issues, useful and helpful information regarding healthy communities - what are some of the community programs that are helping our people address these issues, both on-reserve and in the towns and cities? Traditional and Contemporary solutions?

The CREATE H2O program for First Nations water and sanitation security is designed to address research science and training gaps that are preventing effective, culturally appropriate investments in water and sanitation security on First Nations reserves.http://create-h2o.ca/http://create-h2o.ca/

The CREATE H2O program is the first science-engineering research training program in Canada that combines technical water and wastewater management training with Indigenous theory, law and methodological skills training.

It is funded by a $1.65-million grant over six years from the Collaborative Research and Training Experience program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, plus matching funds from research partners. Since April 2013, the CREATE H2O program has involved more than 30 students at the undergraduate, graduate and postdoc level. All students are working on research projects related to First Nation source water, drinking water or wastewater systems.- - -

From the lab to the reserveJUNE 6, 2017 — Science and engineering students breaking out of the lab and heading for First Nation reserves to put their education into action got some tips this month from those who have walked that path before them.

The University of Saskatchewan professor has collaborated for the last 15 years with Saskatchewan First Nations, including as co-leader of the Safe Water for Health Research Team. She has built long-term, trusting relationships with communities that involve co-teaching, joint research and action and making sure benefits flow to the First Nations involved.http://onehealth.usask.ca/research/research-themes/water--health.php

Her Cree colleague Dr. Priscilla Settee reminded students attending the conference that everyday citizens who did not have access to higher education need to reap the benefits of the students’ privilege.

Bharadwaj said researchers engaging with communities should:

build into their research budgets the costs of travel to communities, local research assistants and creative ways of sharing results,take it easy when plans change,be willing to have some fun andbe themselves.“People care about who you are,” Bharadwaj said. If you’re getting involved in Indigenous research for the advancement of your career, then you’re in it for the wrong reason, she said.

Trainees and their First Nation partners with the H2O program led by University of Manitoba soil scientist Dr. Annemieke Farenhorst shared some of their work:

Recent U of M MSc graduate Johanna Theroux found a significant increase in turbidity in the Nelson River at Norway House over the past 40 years. Turbid water costs more to treat before it can be safely consumed. The rising turbidity may be due to a combination of climate change and increased drainage in the Lake Winnipeg watershed.

Trent University MSc student Erin Hayward, who is Mohawk, is investigating whether ozone pre-treatment of wastewater might be an inexpensive option for small communities compared to aerating or expanding lagoons.Russ Head, the director of public works for a Saskatchewan First Nation, said his community members have to boil water about 100 days per year, often because of pressure loss in the water lines following a power outage or equipment malfunction.

U of M MSc student Mauli Isuruni Gamhewage found that crop land in the Fisher Branch area seems to be contributing to pesticide loading into Fisher River. More surprising was her discovery that pesticide use in Winnipeg appeared to contribute more to Red River contamination than agricultural use in some months, despite the provincial ban on cosmetic pesticide use. Urban pesticide sources might include golf courses and railway rights of way.

Videos and slides from some conference presentations will be posted on the H2O website.http://create-h2o.ca/

Federal government needs transformation to fulfil First Nations drinking water promises: report

VANCOUVER — Following public promises to end long-term drinking water advisories affecting First Nations, limitations in the federal bureaucracy prevent it from fully addressing the crisis, according to Reconciling Promises and Reality: Clean Drinking Water for First Nations, released today.

The David Suzuki Foundation report assesses the federal government’s progress toward ending the 91 long-term drinking water advisories on public systems by 2021. Despite a clear commitment from the minister of Indigenous services, the report gives government a failing grade on eight of the 14 indicators developed to assess its progress.

“The federal government is taking important steps to address the First Nations drinking water crisis, but falls short of the strides needed to realize its crucial promise,” the David Suzuki Foundation’s Alaya Boisvert said. “Thousands of people in First Nations communities across Canada continue to live without access to clean drinking water. Some have gone without for decades.”

According to the report, these factors need clarifying:

The extent to which existing source water protection plans are developed and implementedHow budget allocations and spending shortfalls are addressedWhether regulations will be developed that hold the federal government accountable to First Nations for safe drinking water“This is a fundamental human rights issue that should concern everyone living in Canada,” David Suzuki Foundation CEO Steve Cornish said. “Resolving this crisis is part of our path toward reconciliation.” The report recommends that the government improve its processes by:

Investing in and sharing successful models of First Nations-led approaches to resolving drinking water advisories, including developing and implementing source water protection plansEnsuring expedited, but sound, processes to upgrade systems — including adequate and transparent funding for operations and maintenanceDeveloping legislation and regulations impacting First Nations’ right to clean water with First Nations as equal partnersDespite the problematic prognosis, the report also reveals innovative solutions emerging from communities leading on ending drinking water advisories. “Providing access to clean, safe drinking water can be complicated.

The solutions differ depending on the circumstances,” Jim Brown of the Lytton First Nation of the Nlaka’pamux Nation said. Brown served as operations and maintenance manager for 35 years and band councillor for 22. “We found a state-of-the-art, mobile solution by involving the federal government, private companies, three universities and Nickeyeah community members. Thanks to this ‘Circle of Trust,’ today our residents enjoy clean, safe drinking water.” The 2016 federal budget included $1.8 billion in new funding to help resolve the drinking water crisis. But a December 2017 Parliamentary Budget Officer report found these new investments into waste and water infrastructure represent just 70 per cent of what is needed to end all First Nations DWAs across Canada by 2021.

The complete Reconciling Promises and Reality report is available at davidsuzuki.org/water.

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February 8, 2018

Imagine not being able to turn on the tap to get a glass of clean drinking water. Imagine sending your kids to school with dirty clothes and unwashed bodies because the water isn’t safe to wash in. Imagine purchasing water year after year to make a cup of tea in your home.

This is the reality for more than 100 First Nations in Canada. Many communities have faced these conditions for years, or even decades. As Canadians committed to reconciliation, we must work together to redress such a grave injustice in Canada.

Everyone in Canada has a right to clean drinking water.

The federal government promised to end drinking water advisories in First Nations within five years of being elected. In response, a coalition of organizations led by the David Suzuki Foundation has begun monitoring federal progress toward ensuring clean water. We started with First Nations in Ontario, the province with the highest number of advisories. This year we evaluated steps that the federal government is taking to end drinking water advisories, and we found stories of First Nations leadership in resolving their communities’ drinking water crises.

Our research shows the government has taken some steps, but not the strides needed to fulfil its commitment.

Together we can ensure the federal government lives up to its promise to end long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations communities by 2021. We can show the provinces that they have an important role to play as well.

Clean drinking water in all First Nations is reconciliation in action.- - -

Reconciling Promises and Reality: Clean Drinking Water for First Nations

Drinking water advisories have been a persistent injustice in First Nations. Currently, more than 100 communities go without clean drinking water. Many have faced these conditions for years, or even decades. The David Suzuki Foundation is pleased to release its second report on First Nations drinking water in Canada.

In February 2017, the David Suzuki Foundation, in partnership with the Council of Canadians, released the report: Glass Half Empty? Year 1 progress toward resolving drinking water advisories in nine First Nations in Ontario. The report concluded that although work to end DWAs had begun, the federal government was not on track to fulfil its commitment made in to end long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations across Canada within five years. A year has passed since our first report; this second annual report assesses government’s progress along a set of 14 indicators, developed from the recommendations in the previous report.

A year after the first report, all 12 recommendations still stand asbeing required to achieve the government’s goal of ending long-termdrinking water advisories in First Nations.

As funding remains an important aspect to solve the drinking water crisis, revision ofoperations and maintenance formulas will be an important step forward. The parliamentarybudget officer has illustrated that current funding of operations and maintenancefor First Nations water infrastructure falls dramatically short of what is needed.58The federal government indicates that policy options for updated formulas will beavailable soon and will likely include substantial new investments into operations andmaintenance to make up for years of shortfalls.

Further, it appears provincial involvement has potential to be a positive development.Ontario’s trilateral table offers a model for others to consider as a way of providingadditional support to First Nations to move through the capital investment process andto support First Nations with long-term sustainability of their drinking water systems.The First Nations Health Authority and Atlantic First Nations Water Authority also presentcreative approaches to service development and delivery.The following represent the three most urgent and important themes emerging fromthis report.

First, the government must expedite the capital approval process for water infrastructure.As illustrated in the report, a few new initiatives have been piloted, demonstratingthat it is possible to expedite existing processes. It is critical that the templates andresults of these processes are shared broadly so there is collective learning about theirstrengths and weaknesses. Further, it is crucial that they are designed cooperativelywith First Nations.

Second, recognizing the historical and present context in which drinking water hasbecome a crisis in so many First Nations communities is crucial to finding sustainablesolutions. A long history of colonialism has had disastrous effects on social, psychologicaland economic resilience in communities. Only a holistic approach that builds capacity and infrastructure throughout communities and across sectors will be successful.The issue of clean drinking water cannot be addressed in isolation; rather, itrequires interdepartmental collaboration and must be equipped alongside capacitybuilding and adequate resources.

Finally, as the case studies in the report highlight, most innovation is taking placewhere First Nations are playing a leadership role and/or have ownership over theprojects. The David Suzuki Foundation believes that investments should be made toreplicate and expand these successful community-based approaches. This will requirethe federal government to honour its commitment to relationship-building, trust andsharing decision-making authority.

Clean water is a human right. Your 2015 election promise to end drinking water advisories in First Nations was a hopeful step in the right direction. I’ve heard public statements reaffirming this commitment over the year; however, research shows more effort is needed for the federal government to fulfil its promise.

I am therefore asking the federal government to address this long-standing injustice in Canada by: • Investing in and sharing successful models of First Nations-led approaches to resolving drinking water advisories, including the development and implementation of source water protection plans; • Ensuring expedited, but sound, processes to upgrade systems – including adequate and transparent funding for operations and maintenance; and • Developing legislation and regulations impacting First Nations' right to clean water with First Nations as equal partners.